1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of sports training devices, and more particularly to a covering for a sport balls that, when applied to a sport ball, reduces the coefficient of friction of the ball, making it difficult to handle and ideal for training proper ball-handling skills.
2. Description of the Related Art
Proper ball-handling skills are crucial to many sports. In football for example, the outcome of many games is determined by turnovers. More specifically, fumbles by ball carriers put a sudden end to scoring drives and create opportunities for an opponent to score and control the game clock. Therefore, the ability to teach ball carriers to perform without losing control of the ball can provide a team with an advantage over its opponents. While the present invention is directly applicable to virtually any sport that uses a ball, such as football, rugby, basketball, volleyball, and even soccer, the foregoing descriptions and references will draw primarily from football for simplicity.
Over the years, football coaches have recognized the need to teach ball-handling skills and have tried to develop methods and devices that fit that need. Two such methods have been to soak the football in water or cover it with grease or a similar lubricating substance. These methods were effective at making the footballs slippery, but were very impractical.
Most footballs, like other sport balls, have an outer layer made of leather or a synthetic material that simulates the characteristics of leather. Soaking these materials in water for extended periods of time, or covering them in grease, can be detrimental to such materials and deteriorate them over time. Moreover, a football soaked in water or covered in grease is not easily returned to its original condition for normal use. Wet leather takes several hours to dry. It could take even longer to try and clean grease out of leather, if it can be removed at all.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved method and training device for increasing ball-handling skills in a variety of sports.
The present invention consists of covers formed from flexible materials, such as fabric, for various types of sport balls that turn a game ball into a training ball for use in ball-handling drills. Conventional sport balls have outer coverings made from leather, rubber, or a synthetic material that simulates the characteristics of leather or rubber. These materials are chosen by the ball manufacturers and the sports communities for their durability and gripping characteristics. The covers of the present invention are made from flexible materials having a coefficient of friction lower than that of the outer coverings of conventional leather or rubber sport balls. The flexible material is fashioned into a pocket that snugly but removably covers the sport ball. With the original surface of the sport ball covered by the flexible material, the ball becomes xe2x80x9cslipperyxe2x80x9d and difficult to handle. After the training drills are complete, the cover is easily removed and the ball is returned to its original game condition.
In another embodiment, a permanent training sport ball is formed by permanently attaching the flexible material to the outer cover of the sport ball. Other embodiments of the training covers, which either removably or permanently cover the sport ball, have different shapes and use less covering material to leave selected areas of the sport ball, such as the laces of a football, uncovered. Therefore, the various embodiments of the sport ball training covers are useful for several different training drills and sports.
Thus, a primary objective of the invention is to provide an improved sport ball training cover that improves the ball-handling skills of players from several different sports.
Another objective of the invention is to provide an improved sport ball training cover that has a lower coefficient of friction than that of the outer covering of the sport ball chosen to be covered.
Another objective of the invention is to provide an improved sport ball training cover that removably covers a sport ball.
Another objective of the invention is to provide an improved sport ball training cover that permanently covers a sport ball and creates a specialized training ball.
Another objective of the invention is to provide an improved sport ball training cover that leaves selected areas of a sport ball uncovered to conform to specific types of training drills.
These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.